It is well known in the prior art to produce a television display by modulating beams of light in accordance with electrical signals received from a control system. The modulated beams of light are then converted into images by an optical scanning mechanism.
In order to create a color display, three beams of light must be modulated, one in each of the primary colors, red, green and blue. It is also well known in the art to split a white light beam into three primary colored beams. For example, in Stavis, U.S. Pat. No. 3,507,984, an argon laser beam is passed through a prism in order to split the beam into blue and green beams. In Biedermann, U.S. Pat. No. 3,510,571, a light source is split into three primary colored beams by passing the beam through interference mirrors and filters.
The beams of light are then typically modulated by conventional light modulators such as acousto-optic modulators. This invention discloses an optical modulation television which will not require these conventional modulators.
It is also known in the art to use rotating reflective surfaces in order to provide horizontal sweep. In Biedermann, the optical system for horizontal scan includes a rotating polygonal prism. In Roth, U.S. Pat. No. 3,760,096, the optical system for horizontal sweep includes a rotating pyramidal mirror.